BANIER BRESIL

París: Gallimard, 2001. b/w plates, cat., bio/chron., b/w pict. d.j. (Fine in Fine DJ). Item #67361
ISBN: 2070117138

Handsome presentation of photography of life in Brazil by noted French-born photographer François-Marie Banier. Marginality in street and beach scenes from primarily Salvador but also São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Extensive large b/w plates. "Brazil, to which François-Marie Banier has devoted an impressive book. This Brazil is a country of flesh and of sunlight, of luminous faces lit by joie de vivre, and of supple, sensual bodies which invite us to physical contact. The different races which make up its population – and which in the United States are in conflict – fuse in Brazil into one single type whose main characteristic is a love of life in common. “Blacks, whites, masks: who or what is shadow, who or what is light?” asks Banier. “In this kingdom of music and dance that is Brazil, even shapes have the ability to love and to be loved.” Poverty is greater here than in India, for example, but it is experienced differently. Indians may have wonderful faces, but there no bodies beneath their tunics. Their spirituality shines out, but in a strangely bloodless way. In Calcutta, poverty assails and traumatises the visitor, who can never manage to shake off the ever-present beggars. On the other hand, the Brazilians always seem eager to give and seduce. They are beautiful, well-dressed, smiling and welcoming. And always in the background there is the carnival of Rio de Janeiro for which they save up throughout the year. It is a fact that the richer a country is, the more miserable are its pageants, while the poorer a country is, the more splendid are its festivities. Samba, carioca fever, rumba, the fantastic tumble of extravagant costumes and sumptuous naked flesh : all of this is splendidly flaunted in just one special night. " (Michel Fournier) PORTUGUESE AND FRENCH TEXT.

Price: $95.00